So, DD was born 7 lbs, 15 ounces and 20 inches long. She ended up in NICU for 10 days at birth due to meconium aspiration pneumonia. She was then breastfeeding almost exclusively ( a bit of formula) until six months when she started solid foods. After that time, she slowly went down in percentages for height and weight. She is now 18 months old, weighs 18.8 pounds and is 29.5" tall. She is a VERY VERY active child and is easily distracted at meal times. She sleeps with me and breastfeeds at night and usually once when I pick her up from daycare. She doesn't like cow milk or most of the milk substitutes we've tried.

Had her f/u appt today and they are considering three things 1) milk intolerance, 2) celiac disease or 3) cystic fibrosis. When I heard about CF, I flipped. I had a negative screen while pregnant (along with a normal amnio) so hadn't considered that a possbility. I'm scared and worried. We are trying the dairy free thing first to see if that makes a difference. But I'd truly appreciate any suggestions on how to get her to eat. She just seems uninterested.

Hugs, mama! I'm not a pro at all, but the first thought that popped in my mind was food allergies. You'll get this straightened out. Looks like odds are in your favor that it's not CD, so hang on to that when the worry creeps in.

Our 26 mo old was only about 20 lbs at that age. He was not even on the charts for weight. The ped mentioned failure to thrive too. We went to a feeding clinic for an evaluation and a follow up appt, but they really didn't find any issues.

He was relying on BFing and seemed to fill up on that. And I slowly omitted feedings till we were down to just a nighttime feeding. I also had stored a lot of BM and I mixed it with cow's milk until it was all cow's milk. I did do a dairy elimination to make sure he wasn't allergic to cow's milk, and he wasn't.

He was always very active and fully of energy. I worried a lot at first about his weight, but my gut told me that he was fine. He is a picky eater and knows when he is hungry and when he's not. Granted, he did not lose weight ever and continued to gain, albeit very slowly. I don't know how much your toddler has gone down in weight, but I just wanted to pass along my story that sometimes it can be nothing.

It's good that you are checking things out. What is your gut telling you?

I have nothing important to add, really. Just that my DD2 was 23 lbs and 31 inches at 24 months old (found an old blog post). I don't have her stats for 18 months. No one ever mentioned failure to thrive (at least not to me, who knows what was written in the charts). She has never had an "active" personality, more likely to be found doing art or something quiet, but it's not like she was suffering from a lack of energy. Although a picky eater, I could usually get enough good stuff into her that I wasn't too worried about nutrition. She was also born at a normal weight (7lbs 9 oz), chunked up briefly, and then steadily slid down the charts. Like a PP, she never lost weight, just gained really slowly. I still go through phases where I really really worry about her size and whether there is something wrong. I guess this post is just to say that I've BTDT and know how much it sucks. I just have to take a deep breath and check myself and realize that she is developing well and has energy. Even then it can take a week or two for me to get out of my worry phase. It certainly doesn't help that DD1 was a SUPER chunk and hit 20lbs at 6 mos, so I didn't have experience with a child on the other end of the growth chart.

ETA: I asked our doctor about her weight and height before, and he nonchalantly said that someone had to be in the 3rd percentile and it wasn't like she was losing weight or had not gaining anything. He said that he cared about her growth curve, and not so much about how she compared to everyone else.

I'm not proud of this but it I'll tell you because it works for me. DH bought a portable DVD player for car emergencies. DD was getting into a difficult phase of not wanting to eat so to entice her I would put a Signing Time DVD on and put it on the kitchen counter where she could see it from her place at the table. I think I've said this in another post but she is like a zombie when I put it on and she just chows down.

My daughter was about 20-22 pounds at a year and really didn't gain any weight for ages. I think that between 9 months (when she could stand independently, straight up from the ground) to 24-ish months she gained all of 2 pounds. She was never at the very bottom of the charts, but she got much closer than she was, and our pediatrician (who is not all I would hope for in a doctor) was very worried about it.

Mostly, I think that her slow gain was because she's very active, and a bit of a picky eater. She also had/has really bad teeth (lost some to tooth decay by age 2. I have big mommy-guilt over it) and I think it wasn't comfortable for her to eat. That's another possibility to look into.

Besides being just small, are there any indications of allergies or intolerences? My DD has food issues and we knew from day one. She hardly slept, was constantly fussy/in pain, and when she did start solids, she developped horrible ezcema. It seems unlikely to be allergies if there are no other signs. Could be she is just small and active. Is she gaining weight, just slowly? I would only be worried if she were losing weight and was not meeting milestones. My DD is the same age as yours (I remember you from our DDC!) and as of 2 months ago was exactly 20 lbs. She may be a few ounces more now, but she's been gaining very slowly. And she was 30 inches. She's just small... we do have food issues, but she eats and nurses well...I guess, I have nothing to compare her too...